Local Boston Marathon runners, volunteers exhilarated

“It was about the now,” John Riley of Somerset said, speaking Monday afternoon, after the conclusion of the Boston Marathon, a race marked, but not forever changed, by last year's bombing.

Marc Munroe Dion Herald News Staff Reporter

FALL RIVER — Maybe John Riley of Somerset said it best.

“It was about the now,” he said, speaking Monday afternoon, after the conclusion of the Boston Marathon, a race marked, but not forever changed, by last year’s bombing.

Riley was a volunteer worker at the finish line of last year’s race. This year found him volunteering at the starting line.

“The mood was totally upbeat and positive,” he said of this year’s race.

“I’m walking across Boston Common right now,” Riley said via cell phone. “It’s a beautiful day.”

University of Massachusetts Amherst student and 2010 Bishop Stang High School graduate Corinne Ainsworth ran the marathon Monday to help raise money for a scholarship fund in memory of Krystle Campbell, one of three people killed during last year’s bombing.

“It was my first marathon ever,” Ainsworth said Monday. “I ran it for Krystle Campbell.”

Ainsworth said she finished the race and she’d done well.

“I’m happy with my time,” she said.

As for the mood, Ainsworth was at a loss for words.

“Unexplainable,” she said. “I heard ‘Boston Strong’ every minute of the race. “Everyone was screaming it.

“It linked us all together,” she said.

Last year, Westport resident Susan Darmody was a half-mile from the finish line when the race was stopped. This year she ran to the end.

“I absolutely finished this year,” she said, adding that she felt “hungry and tired but good.”

“This was the first marathon I finished,” Darmody said.

Like Ainsworth, Darmody said the crowd was definitely behind the runners.

“It felt the same as last year during the first half,” Darmody said. “People were screaming.

“The second half of the race, security kicked in a lot more,” she said. “That really took a little away from it.

“I know they had to do that,” Darmody said.

Like others in the race, Darmody said the crowd and the athletes know it’s important for the race to continues it always has.